Senior members of the well established Greek Cypriot community in the UK, based mostly in northern London, have assumed action trying to coordinate an effort to garner support for their native country.
The National Federation of Cypriots in the UK executive body met on Thursday evening and agreed to call an extraordinary plenary meeting for next Thursday. The new meeting will explore ways in which the UK Cypriot community can help Cyprus and, in particular, encourage its members’ potential participation in the Solidarity Investment Fund that has been proposed by the authorities in the island (or any other similar scheme that is finally set up).
The proposed plenary meeting will be open to the whole community and UK Cypriot business people, entrepreneurs, professional people, academics, bankers and other influential community figures will be invited to participate. A formal announcement is expected to be issued soon. .
The aim is to lead a targeted effort to encourage UK Cypriot people (particularly business people) to contribute or invest through any legal channels or structures set up by the Cyprus government.
Leaders of the community believe that a well planned approach could yield support from the wider business and investment community in the UK.
“So our role will be more as advocates or ambassadors for the island in relation to its effort to attract much needed investment and funds and the role does not have to be confined to UK Cypriots – it can be extended to spreading the word among the broader British business and investment community but that aspect will be on the agenda for discussion on Thursday,” an official closely involved in the initiative said.
The proposed action constitutes part of a broader and longer term effort, both to urge new investment in the island by UK Cypriots and non-Cypriots alike and also to contribute in a meaningful way to the island’s economic diplomacy abroad. Federation President Peter Droussiotis has stressed that targeted activity in this field of diplomacy will be an essential ingredient of any future strategy aimed at stabilising and regenerating Cyprus’s economy
Admirable as this may be I have two nagging doubts in my mind which tell me that in order to resolve this part of the ‘Cyprus problem’ a lot more than help from the Cypriots of the Diaspora is needed.
Firstly, fine we gather all our resources and give them to the Cyprus Government but will the Cypriot multimillionaires reciprocate? Will they now bring back the millions they stashed away from Cyprus. I am afraid they will not because this is so much against the Cypriot temperament which has now become ‘what is mine is mine and what is yours will be mine.
The second question and doubt I have is that now that it has been established that the two main banks, Bank of Cyprus and Laiki have been proved to have caused a very large part of the problem with the wrong policies of their top management, will now these upstanding gentlemen return the fat bonuses they paid themselves for the years they were making these disastrous policies. After all a bonus is an extra payment given for making a good job, not for destroying your country. Personally I doubt it and would not be surprised to see these people rewarded with top jobs in business or Government. Cypriots have a habit for doing that. The name of Sarris comes to mind.
What effects could happen to Cyprus by bringing back the Cypriot pound and leaving the eu and allowing the Cypriot community to grow without the imported cheep labourers who are exporting the Cypriot financial growth .